Overview

• A Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 11:50 p.m. ET on Aug. 21, and the booster landed back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station minutes later.
• OTV-8 carries laser communications experiments designed to link with proliferated commercial low-Earth-orbit networks to boost secure, high-speed data transfer, according to Space Force statements.
• The mission hosts what officials describe as the highest-performing quantum inertial sensor yet flown in space to support navigation when GPS is unavailable, with work led by DIU and AFRL.
• Boeing added an integrated service module to increase on-orbit payload capacity, returning the vehicle to space less than six months after OTV-7’s March 7 landing that showcased an aerobraking maneuver.
• The Space Force has not disclosed mission duration or detailed operations, and the X-37B program’s two vehicles have accumulated more than 4,200 days in space across seven prior flights.